#8 Soul and Afterlife: Bible says “yes” or “no” to immaterial soul?

Many Christians think they get their idea(s) about the human soul from the Bible. But the Bible doesn’t actually say too much about that. Which is rather paradoxical or ironic given that one would think that the Bible is all about the development of our soul. What exactly does the Bible have to say about this? Does it specifically say that we are made of two very different substances (a material body and immaterial soul … aka “Dualism”), or that the soul and body could both be material (“Monism”)?

In this episode, we trace our way through the Bible in a historical fashion and see how the Hebrews and Christians developed their thinking on this question as they encountered other civilizations and worldviews.

The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) begins with a very Dualist view, but then wobbles back and forth between Monism and Dualism. These five books reflects several thousand years of ancient Hebrew thinking: beginning with the first eleven chapters of Genesis which closely resemble ancient Sumerian/Akkadian narratives, then continuing with a very Babylonian Abraham bringing his descendants into a very Egyptian worldview.

The Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, plus all the books named after prophets) reflect Hebrew thinking when Israel became her own nation, and were then quickly taken into captivity. These show them still wobbling between Monism and Dualism.

The Writings (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) and several of the Prophetic books reflect Hebrew thinking during that captivity. These show the latter leaning more strongly towards Dualism, and this idea just explodes onto the scene in the writing of Daniel. Is it a coincidence that this is also when Israel encounters Zoroastrianism and Greek philosophy, both of which were overtly Dualist in their understanding of the human soul?

After this, we have the books of the New Testament, which reflect Hebrew thinking filtered heavily through a Greek philosophical lens. It is in these books that Dualism is undeniable.

Clearly, JudeoChristian thinking did evolve, and did so as it encountered the worldviews of the pagan nations surrounding them.

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